Meet Our Instructors

Using the Natural Approach Method developed by NPO Japanese Sign Language Teachers Center, you can immerse yourself in learning Japanese Sign Language with minimal references to spoken language.

Our Instructors

Hitomi Akahori

Hitomi Akahori

Born as a Deaf child to Deaf parents, Hitomi worked at corporations such as NEC Software, Ltd (predecessor of NEC Sollution Innovators, Ltd.) and late...

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Kiyoshi Kawashima

Kiyoshi Kawashima

Hideya Terasawa

Hideya Terasawa

"I have recently started Awa Odori, which is a popular dance in Tokushima. I'm from Nagano but that doesn't matter much. Whether you dance or watch so...

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Akira Morita

Akira Morita

Akira was born in Kumamoto and raised in Kanagawa. He teaches at the private Meisei Gakuen School for the Deaf. Meisei Gakuen is the only school for t...

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Takeshi Noguchi

Takeshi Noguchi

"I was born in Yokohama. People suppose from my features that I come from the south, but I am a Yokohama native. I have been involved in sign languag...

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Kosuke Ono

Kosuke Ono

Kosuke was born in Tokyo, attended a school for the deaf, and now lives in Yokohama. He is a busy person and like a tuna fish he cannot keep still for...

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Uiko Yano

Uiko Yano

Born in Oshima, Ehime Prefecture, Uiko is now a student in Graduate School at Tsukuba University of Technology. She is involved in multiple sign langu...

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Yoshiko Onodera

Yoshiko Onodera

Yoshiko was born in a Deaf family in Fukui Prefecture and attended a school for the deaf. She is now a part-time lecturer at National Rehabilitation C...

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Hosana Ito

Hosana Ito

Hosana has been running Hosana's Sweets Club since 2015 where confectionery making classes are given in Japanese Sign Language. "With Signs I/O I wis...

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Toshio Onodera

Toshio Onodera

"I transferred to multiple schools for the deaf in my childhood because of my father's job, and became quite sociable. Having spent 10 years in Taiwa...

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Azusa Fukumitsu

Azusa Fukumitsu

Azusa was born in Hokkaido. She became interested in sign language teaching because of her hearing father who was president of a local sign language l...

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Yumiko Kawai

Yumiko Kawai

Yumiko is an actor and a Deaf interpreter. She is a member of Deaf performance groups "Sorairo-yakan" and "Sign Poet☆Konoyubi tomare tai (Come and j...

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Fumie Shimojo

Fumie Shimojo

Born in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, Fumie attended Tochigi Prefectural School for the Deaf and continued her education at Advanced Vocational Course of...

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Etsuko Kokita

Etsuko Kokita

Setsuko Echigo

Setsuko Echigo

Chika Hara

Chika Hara

Atsuko Mama

Atsuko Mama

Hajime Noro

Hajime Noro

About NPO Japanese Sign Language Teachers Center (JSLTC)

Let's chat in JSL! "Learning language is fun" is our motto.

It has been almost 20 years since we introduced the “Natural Approach for Sign Language Teaching” as a language teaching method in which native Deaf signers directly teach sign language to the learners. We strive to provide an environment where students can learn from instructors who are highly skilled in language pedagogy. We dispatch our instructors to private companies and universities, providing a wide range of services including interpreter training. Please click on the link below to visit our website for details.

http://www.jsltc.org

Hitomi Akahori, Director of NPO Japanese Sign Language Teachers Center